“We like his energy, his skill set, his intelligence; we like the fact that he played for a really good coach,” Walton said. “We feel like he will come in right away and help our team. We are building a culture here and he brings a lot to the table. As far as the passion he plays with, his unselfish nature, the way that he sprints the floor, all these things that we’ve seen on film and saw live a couple of times when he worked out for us. We were really excited when he was still on the board at our pick.”

Sharp-shooting big man Moe Wagner impressed the Lakers' player personnel staff from their first contact at the NBA draft combine to a private workout in L.A. By the end of the scouting process, they were all smitten with the Michigan man.